1. Field
Aspects of one or more embodiments of the present invention relate to a battery pack and a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Research into rechargeable batteries has been actively conducted due to the development of portable electronic devices such as cellular phones, laptop computers, camcorders, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the like. The rechargeable battery may be any of various types such as a nickel-cadmium battery, a lead storage battery, a nickel metal hydride battery (NiMH), a lithium ion battery, a lithium polymer battery, a metal lithium battery, or an air zinc battery. The rechargeable battery may be combined with a circuit so as to constitute a battery pack, and the rechargeable battery is charged and discharged through an external terminal of the battery pack.
A typical battery pack includes a battery cell and a peripheral circuit including a charge-discharge circuit, wherein the peripheral circuit is prepared as a printed circuit board and then is combined with the battery cell. When an external power source is coupled to an external terminal of the battery pack, the battery cell is charged by external power supplied through the external terminal and the charge-discharge circuit. When a load is coupled to the external terminal, power of the battery cell is supplied to the load through the charge-discharge circuit and the external terminal. Here, the charge-discharge circuit controls charging and discharging of the battery cell occurring between the external terminal and the battery cell. In general, a plurality of battery cells are coupled in series or in parallel according to a consumption of a load.